Things are Not Always What They Seem
by Sir Edward
Summary: First person [Isaaccentric]. Valeshipping, Softshipping maybe.... This is a story about what happened from Prox up to the end of the game, through Isaac's eyes. Might contain other pairings... Enjoy, and leave reviews!
1. Chapter 1

I might take a bit to update this story, so I hope that anyone who likes this could possibly forgive me for my lack of updates. I have another story that I am trying to get reposted, because I needed to correct a few mistakes. Thanks to all those who read this, and a million thanks to those who leave reviews!

Things are not always as they seem.

I know this from personal experience.

As I stood outside one morning in late December watching the snow fall down and powder the ground in its white cloak, I heard a noise behind me.

I turned to find Jenna standing beside me.

"What'chya doing?" She asked me.

I stood for a moment, looking out at the Proxan sky.

"Thinking." I replied.

"Thinking about what?" She countered, a slight smile on her face.

"This whole quest." I said, shaking my head to free the blonde strands that had plastered themselves onto my fore head.

"What's wrong Isaac? You aren't getting cold feet are you?" She asked, making the pun very obvious, by stressing the 'cold feet'.

I gave a groan at the bad pun.

"My feet are quite warm thanks." I answered her literal question, and avoiding the real one.

Jenna made a noise of annoyance in the back of her throat.

I chuckled, and turned to face her, noticing how beautiful she looked with the snow in her hair.

I blinked for a moment, and dispelled the thought.

"You know what I mean!" She said her voice giving the hint that she was getting impatient.

"Well... no... I just... can't believe that I am going out to do the one thing that I was supposed to stop... It is a little disconcerting..." I replied.

"I could see that." She nodded, and stepped a little closer.

"You know, Mia and Sheba have made hot cocoa at the inn, you wanna have some?"

"Um..." I responded, thinking about how much a cup of chocolate could warm my hands, which had gone numb from the bitter Proxan wind.

"No... Thanks." I answered.

"Why?" She asked, her tone a little sad.

"I need time to think." I said.

"You've been out here thinking for three hours! Your fingers are going to fall off, so at least take my mittens." She said, shoving the mittens into my hand, and waiting for my reaction.

I looked down at the mittens, and saw that they where a bright pink.

I thought for a moment, and then I decided that pink would not hurt my manhood, so I slipped them on.

"You should come back in Isaac... You'll catch a cold." Jenna said, as a last ditch attempt to get me to come in.

I turned to her, a little shocked that she was showing so much concern for my health.

My face tinged a slight red, though who would notice, my face must have been the shade of Jenna's hair by now anyways.

"Please?" She pleaded.

I thought for a second or two more, then I nodded, and she took my hand happily, and pulled me toward the inn.

Once again, I felt a slight heat in my face as she displayed another act of affection.

When we got to the inn, she opened the door, and pushed me through.

"I got him back!" She said triumphantly, smiling at the group.

"Heh... Nice gloves Isaac." Garet said, pointing to the pink mittens I was wearing.

I blushed, and quickly took them off, and handed them to Jenna.

She smiled as she took them from me.

"So Isaac? Want some hot cocoa?" Mia asked.

"Yes please." I said, taking a seat next to Felix, and Jenna sat down to my left.

I looked at Felix.

He was moping into his mug, his brown eyes clouded by what ever he was thinking.

Jenna leaned across me, and jabbed Felix in the ribs with an elbow, causing him to dump half of his cocoa all over his front.

"Why so glum?" She inquired.

Felix just grunted, and looked down at his lap that was soaked in chocolate.

"Com'mon Felix! What's wrong with you now?" She was about to do something that I did not want to get into the middle of.

I stood quickly, and backed from the table.

Felix turned his eyes to Jenna, his face unreadable.

"Just let me be Jenna!" He said in a quiet voice, his eyes pleading for solitude.

"No! You can't just be a sulk all the time! You make Mia so worried she cries sometimes! You shouldn't be so mean!" Jenna's voice was strident, and she waved her hand toward Mia when she spoke.

Mia closed her eyes, and felt like disappearing, but she did not have the Djinn configuration to cast Avoid, so she settled with leaving to go to the bathroom.

Felix's eyes widened at what Jenna had said.

"Mia... worries about me?" He posed the question tentatively, as if he was hoping for something.

"Well... Oh! I shouldn't have said that!" Jenna said, looking around and finding that Mia had left the room.

"But you did just say..." Felix looked a little less sulky now, but sulking came so naturally to him, that even when he was genuinely happy, he looked a little depressed.

"Yes... I did... But I shouldn't have said that!" She cried, getting up to follow Mia.

"No... I'll go." Felix said, and left to find Mia.

I was shocked once again today, by Felix actually showing an emotion that was not pissy.

I turned to Jenna.

"I think you might have done it this time." I said, shaking my head.

"I don't need to hear it from you Bright-eyes!" She said in a hurt tone.

"Bright-eyes?" I inquired.

"Yes! Bright-eyes! Are you trying to make fun of me now?" She asked, a tear forming in the corner of her eye, and rolling down to her chin, where it refused to fall, instead it clung to her like a magnet.

I felt bad for what I had said, and I looked at her with the best look of sorrow I could muster.

"No Jenna... I wasn't trying to make fun of you... I just didn't understand why you called me 'bright-eyes'... I wanted to know." I replied, hoping to calm the Mars Adept before she got into one of her fits of rage.

"Fine, but stop being so mean! I just made a mistake that's all!" She got up, and went to leave, but my hand flew out and caught her arm.

I looked down at my hand, and found that it was gripping her arm, and I went to let go, but I couldn't get myself to do it.

"What Isaac? Do you have anything else to say to me?" She asked, looking down at my hand.

"Um... Sorry... I really didn't mean to... Hurt you." I had to force the words out, because I felt so embarrassed by what my hand had done without my telling it to.

Jenna looked me in the eyes, and I felt a little tingle in my spine, her red-brown eyes like the chocolate that I had started to drink.

"Thank you Isaac... I accept your apology." She said, with an odd look on her face.

I wanted to never let go, but I knew that that would have been awkward, so I released her, and went back to the table.

"Come back and finish your cocoa... They'll be fine." I said, patting her chair with my left hand.

She looked toward where Mia and Felix had gone, and then at the chair.

She shifted a little, and then walked back to the table.

She sat down with a sigh, and took up her mug.

She took a sip, and set the cup down, and leaned toward the others.

"The quest is almost over." She said, her eyes looking at each of the others, and then her eyes came to rest on me.

"Isaac... Will we make it?" She asked, her voice quiet and frightened.

I looked at her, my eyes wide. Jenna was never afraid of anything, and now she seemed helpless and small, like she needed protection, and it made me feel odd.

"I don't honestly know Jenna... I wish I could say that I did, but I don't." I said, thinking of the best way to help her.

Then she did something I had only seen her do once before.

She flung herself into my arms and broke down to tears.

I didn't know what to do, so I tried to remember when I had seen it last.

It was years ago now, when Felix and her parents had gone missing from the Mt. Aleph boulder.

_Flashback:_

_I had been running, trying to find a way to the plaza, but large boulders kept blocking my path. I met up with Garet, and he had been trying to pull a large trunk full of stuff away from his home._

"_Garet! There's no time for that! We have to go to the plaza!" I had shouted, and Garet looked up from the trunk, and he said, "You're right! Let's go to the plaza and get help!" _

_We ran and found a man lying on the ground, groaning and moaning._

"_I'm injured badly... Do you think that I'll die?" He had asked us._

_I looked at him, and didn't see any wounds on his body, and said no._

_He lay there for a moment, and then he jumped up and looked at us._

"_Be careful! There are monsters out there!" He warned us, and then ran off down the path._

_We looked around, and then kept going._

_Then a weird creature jumped from behind a stump, and waved a fork at us._

_We drew our machetes, and the mouse-thing leapt at us._

_Garet slashed at it, and hit it hard, and it fell back._

_I lunged at it, and put it out of its misery, and we continued on._

_Another monster attacked us, and this one was a bat._

_It screeched, and dove at Garet._

_Its fangs grazed his arm, but with a single swing, the bat fell to the ground in a heap._

_We ran on, and then the weirdest things attacked us._

_Two mushrooms stood there before us, their blue caps slick with rain._

_We ran into battle, and clashed with them, to come out victorious. _

_But Garet had another wound, and he need attention._

_So I crushed one of the herbs that I had, and used the rain to get it wet._

_I tied the paste to his arm with a bandage, and he looked much better._

_We continued quickly, running along the muddy river that was so swollen that it nearly flowed over its banks._

_Then I heard a pitiful cry._

"_Oh no! My brother!" The voice sounded like Jenna's, and she sounded like she was on the verge of tears._

_Garet and I stepped closer, and found a scene that was startling._

_My father was there, along with Felix and Jenna's parents._

_They where reaching for Felix, who had fallen into the water, and was barely hanging onto a branch in the middle of the river._

"_Hang on Felix!" My father shouted to him, but I doubt that he even heard it._

"_Felix will be alright. We'll find a way to save him..." My mother's voice had carried over the maelstrom of the storm._

_Then Felix disappeared under the water._

_A shrill cry broke the air._

"_Nooooooooo! Felix!" It was Jenna, and she sounded devastated._

_She had jumped into her mother's arms, crying hysterically._

"_The rope won't reach... We should use Psynergy. Do you have any left?" My father's voice said calmly._

"_I've used all mine up. What about you Kyle?" Jenna's mother had replied._

"_I'm drained from helping the other villagers..." His answered, his voice sad._

_My mother looked around, and said, "We have to get help."_

"_Can Felix hang on long enough for us to find help?" My father asked._

"_There's nothing else we can do for him here, is there?" My mother had replied._

"_Then go get help, but be as quick as possible!" My father said._

"_Jenna, can you go too?" Her father asked her._

_She looked a little confused, and hesitated to answer._

"_You'll go find help, right?" Her mother inquired._

_Jenna nodded._

"_You brother's counting on you, Jenna." My mother said, as words of encouragement._

_Jenna gave another nod._

"_All right, let's get going!" _

_They left, entering the house and coming out of the house seconds later._

_My mother turned to Jenna._

"_I'll go look up north... You head for the plaza, all right?"_

"_Yes ma'am. We're looking for anyone with any Psynergy left, right?"_

_They both nodded, and my mother came up the path and found us standing there._

_She called out to us, and asked us if we knew what was going on._

_We both nodded, and she asked us to go with Jenna to the plaza._

_We ran to catch up with Jenna and headed to the plaza._

_When we got there, we found Jenna, and got someone to help us._

_We ran back to where we had left Felix in the river._

_The next thing to happen where the saddest things that happened in my life, and I still feel like the little boy that had watched his dad be swept away by the boulder, when I think about it._

_End Flashback_

That was when it had happened.

Jenna just broke down, and had cried, leaping into her mother's arms

"_What had she done to calm her?_" I thought, my mind racing.

Then I remembered.

I gently pulled Jenna closer to me, and I started to rub her back.

"It's going to be all right... It will be alright..." I said, patting her back softly.

We stood like this for a few minutes, then she started to calm down, her sobs turn to quiet tremors.

She gave a sniff, and she pulled back slightly, so that she could look into my eyes.

"Isaac... Thank you..." She said, leaning her head against my shoulder.

I just held her to me, a feeling of rightness and happiness had settled into my heart, like this was how things where supposed to be.

When she pulled away she smiled, her face streaked with tearstains, but she looked much better.

But before we broke apart, she had said something that I was never expecting.

"I need to talk to you later Isaac... I have something that I've needed to tell you for a while..." She had said, whispering it into my ear so that I was the only one to hear.

I puzzled over what it was that she wanted to tell me, but I couldn't decide.

I mulled it over as I soaked in the tub, to get the lingering cold out of my bones.

"_I wonder what she wants to say?_"


	2. Chapter 2

I slipped out of the tube after a good fifteen minutes, and dressed into my bathrobe.

I wondered back to my room, and closed the door.

Tomorrow, we would be leaving for the lighthouse.

I got into bed, and closed my eyes, thinking of the day's events.

My mind kept coming back to what Jenna had said.

But I removed those thoughts, and instead thought about what was going to happen at the Mars light.

Soon I fell asleep, and had strange dreams.

(_Dream Sequence_)

_I was in the middle of a field, and snow was falling heavily to the ground._

_I walked along a trail of sorts, and looked around at the snowy wasteland, and I felt pity and sorrow in my heart._

_The only noise was that of the wind blowing loudly through the dead branches of trees._

_I gave a shiver, and adjusted my scarf._

_As I neared the woods, I heard a cry._

_I froze._

_My hand immediately went to the sword at my side._

_I took a deep breath, and drew it from its sheath, the blade whispering as it came out of the scabbard._

_Then a blazing light cut through the air, and made everything around me white._

_I heard a whispering sound, like a person speaking, but I couldn't make out what they where saying._

_The light cleared, and before me stood a huge dragon, its three heads snapping at the air, saliva dripping from its long fangs._

_I stood rooted to the spot, trying to make sense of what was going on._

_Then a voice called to me, a woman, but the words where mumbled and slurred. _

_It sort of sound like she was asking for help, but I couldn't be sure._

_Then the dragon lunged at me, its heads bearing down on me, and I couldn't move._

_Then I heard the voice clearly, just before the heads struck me._

"_Isaac! Help us! Don't fight..."_

_End Dream Sequence._

My eyes flashed open, and I stared around the room.

My body was covered with cold sweat, and my heart was beating like it wanted to escape my chest.

I shut my eyes, and drew a few ragged breaths.

Soon my mind was calm, and my body was no longer fighting with my imaginary demons, and I relaxed.

Just as I was falling asleep, I heard a soft tap at my door.

I stood slowly, and walked to the door.

When I opened it, I found Jenna on the other side, looking tired and a little afraid.

"Isaac... I need... need to talk... I've been... Bad dreams! Need to talk to you!" She finally said clutching at the doorframe like it was a lifeline.

I looked at her, and felt sad, so I invited her in.

She stumbled in, and fell into a chair in the corner of the room.

In the moonlight, I could see that her skin was pale white, and her eyes where wide, and unfocused, like she where in her own world.

Then she seemed to snap to reality.

"Isaac... Bad dreams! Had a bad dream... Death... all... Pain... Isaac!" She was frantic, something that I had never encountered in Jenna.

"You had a bad dream Jenna?" I questioned softly, trying to sound calm, but I was very worried about the state that Jenna was in.

"Isaac... The lighthouse! A dragon! Heh..." She said in a panicked tone, looking around as if she would find the dragon in the room.

"I had a dream about a dragon too..." I said, thinking back at the strangeness of the dream.

"Big... Big dragon! Lots of... heads! Mean... Felt like... someone... can't fight, arms... frozen... can't speak, no." She was shivering all over now, and I was very worried now.

I needed to do something to calm her, and so I took her hand, and gave it a reassuring squeeze.

She seemed to respond to it, because she closed her eyes.

"Isaac... It was so... Real! I... Couldn't do anything..." She gave a convulsive tremor, but settled back into the chair.

Then she crushed my hand in her grip, but I knew she wasn't trying to hurt me.

"Jenna... My hand." I said, as my fingers slowly went numb from her grip.

"Sor...ry..." She breathed, releasing my hand.

"Isaac. I needed to tell you that... I've been having these bad dreams lately... But they've gotten worse! I haven't slept well for almost eight days... Thank you for... Snapping me out of my panic." She said, as she took deep breaths to pull herself together.

"You're okay now... Right?" I asked, putting my hand on her shoulder.

"I'm... Not good, but... not bad..." She replied.

"So... Do you need to talk about it?" I asked.

"Yes..." She nodded, looking down at me.

"I've had dreams like that too." I said.

"You... you have?"

"Yes."

"Like mine?"

"Yes."

"When?"

"I had one just tonight."

"Me too."

"I know... That's why you're hear right?"

"Yes."

She shifted a little in the chair, making herself comfortable.

"They feel so real... Don't they?" She asked me, her eyes searching for the answer.

"Yes... Very real."

"I... was so sure that... I'd died... That when I woke up... I didn't know where I was."

"I haven't had that happen, but it sounds awful."

"Yes, it is." She shifted again, and looked down at me.

"Isaac?"

"Yes?"

"Did you hear voices... in your... dreams?"

"Yes... A woman's voice."

"It sounded like my mom." She said, her hand tensing on the arm of the chair.

I thought about it, and indeed, the voice sounded a little like her mother.

"I don't understand..." I said.

"We're having the same dreams... That must mean something."

"Yes." She nodded, and looked at me, as if expecting me to know that answers to life's riddles.

She stood.

"I think that I feel better Isaac. Thank you." She said, and then she hugged me, and left, shutting the door behind her.

I watched after her, then got into bed, and fell promptly asleep.


	3. Chapter 3

The next morning, things where just bad, because the snow had picked up, and the wind was blowing like an icy wall, like it wanted to freeze anything that dared to go outside.

I blew out the breath I had taken in, as an exasperated sigh.

"This is going to be a long and hard trial. I don't know if we'll make it." I said to myself, looking out at the evil weather.

I put on my clothes, and went out into the long hall that separated the main area of the inn from the rooms.

As I walked down the hall, Mia's door opened, and she stepped out.

"Oh, hey Isaac! How are you?" She said, giving me one of her famous smiles, and cocked her head to one side.

"What do you think of the weather? It's miserable!" She said, making a face.

"The wind is so cold! I love snow, but I hate when the wind makes it cold!"

"I'm not to fond of it." I admitted.

She gave me one last smile, and went off to find Felix.

I walked out to the common area, to find Jenna sitting by herself eating some food.

I walked over to her, and asked her if I could sit with her.

"Sure Isaac..." She said, she sounded a little distracted, but I sat anyways.

She turned to me, and her eyes seemed distant, but she smiled, and nodded to me.

"Are you ready to go to Mars Light?"

"As ready as I'll ever be."

"Well... I am too then!" She said, but her smile didn't reach her eyes, and her laugh was a little dry.

"You okay?" I asked.

She gave a slight tremor, but of what I didn't know.

"I guess."

"Really?"

"Um... Yeah." She said, and seemed to snap out of her stupor.

"I am, I just was thinking about other things." She said, pushing strands of her red hair out of her face.

"Okay..." I said, as a woman came over and asked me what I wanted to eat.

"Just some coffee... Black please. And some eggs and bacon." I said, and she nodded and walked away.

"What're you thinking about?" I asked, thinking I'd try to make conversation with her, to keep her mind busy.

"Just about what we're going to do... We could be killing Weyard slowly though... Alchemy is a very dangerous thing, but to restore it... It will save the world from a sure fate of destruction. But what if people start to abuse it?" She asked me.

"They won't. Not if we can help it." I said, putting my hand on hers, and patting it gently.

She smiled at me, and nodded.

"If you're not afraid then I won't be." She said.

"I didn't say that I wasn't afraid, I just said that we'd have to do our best." I said, trying not to instill a false sense of security in her, because I knew this was going to be dangerous, and the journey could be potentially fatal.

There was a tense moment of silence, and then she smiled and nodded.

"Always so honest Isaac... That's what you are. Always honest..."

I nodded.

"I don't think it's a good idea to go into a dangerous situation without believing that it is dangerous."

"I think that's what's so noble about you Isaac, you never tell a lie, unless it is important to keep a secret... You know, that's one of the things I admire in you." She said to me in a quiet tone.

Just then, the waitress came back with my food, and I started to eat.

After about five minutes of silence, Felix walked in, and looked down at me.

"We have to get going soon, that storm isn't getting any smaller."

I stared up at him, and shook my head.

"I'll be done in a minute." I said, drinking some coffee to help ease my mind.

"Fine." He said, and walked off in a huff, like he usually does.

I finished quickly, looking up at Jenna occasionally, and saw that she was looking a little worse for wear, and I gave her a questioning look.

She gave a fake smile, and shook her head.

I was starting to worry again.

"Hey Jenna? You sure you're okay?" I asked, hoping to snap her out of the mood she was in.

"Sorry... I'm just a little afraid. Those dreams..." She said her eyes widening a little as she said this, then she shook her head again.

"I just hope we'll all leave alive."

"Yes, me too Jenna... Me too." I replied, as I finished my food, and stood up.

"It's time to go." I said, holding my hand out to her.

She looked up at my hand for a moment, as if she where contemplating it, then she reached out her hand, and grasped mine, and I helped her up.

She gave me a little hug, and wonder off to her room, without saying anything.

I returned to my room, and packed my things, as little as there was, and went to wait out in the lobby.

Soon everyone was gathered around Felix and I, and I nodded to Felix, and he nodded back, his face grim with anticipation.

"Let's go!" Garet said, his face a little paler than usual, but just as determined as ever.

Ivan stood, his eyes closed, holding the bag he carried in his right hand, preying that everything would go all right.

Sheba stood next to him, her green eyes set in determination, on the door, like she was ready for anything.

Piers was as always, standing quietly, his golden eyes scanning the group, waiting for the next move.

Garet was, well, just Garet.

He stood with his back against the wall, and his arms crossed over his chest, with a slight smirk on, as he watched the others waiting for directions.

Mia was standing next to Felix, her hand resting lightly on his arm, like she was trying to keep herself upright, but she also looked determined, as her mouth was set in a straight line, instead of her usual smile.

Jenna, on the other hand, was standing near Ivan, her eyes clouded and unsure, and I knew what she was thinking about.

I gave her a nod, hoping that it would raise her spirits, and it seemed to, but I wasn't sure.

"Are we ready?" Kraden asked the group, shouldering the pack he had brought.

"Yes... Let's get this over with." I said, turning towards the door, and leaving.

We got outside, and headed to the light, the snow whipping us in the face, making our eyes water as snow stung them.

When we reached the outskirts of the city, a group of Proxans stood in a line, with looks of sorrow on their faces.

"Agatio and Karst have failed to light the beacon." One said in a gloomy voice, shifting towards the leader.

"Yes... Prox is doomed if the light house doesn't shine again." The leader said, his voice full of sorrow and pain.

"I wonder if there is anyone else who can light the beacon?" Another asked, his eyes full of hope.

"No... Agatio and Karst where the most powerful of all us Proxans, and if they couldn't do it... No one else in Prox can."

I stepped up to them, and said, "I think we can help you."

The leader turned to look at me, and saw the eight of us, and his eyes lit up.

"Felix! You would light the beacon to save Prox?"

Felix nodded, and stepped up next to me.

"Are you sure that you can do it?" The leader asked, his voice full of concern.

"We lit the other beacons... What makes Mars so different?" He said.

"You're right. Prox will be forever in your debt if you light the beacon! Thank you."

"We're not doing it for just Prox, but for the whole world."

"Please return as quickly as you can! Prox is counting on you now Felix... I can't express my gratitude for what you are about to do... You're really going to risk yourselves to save Prox?"

"Yes... But we need to get going, and I promise I will return." He said.

I watched the other Proxans, and saw that they all had hope in their eyes, as they watched us walk out of the village.


End file.
